Technology

Vigilant Solutions and Watch Systems announced today that they have worked together, and in close collaboration with mutual customers, to provide improved abilities to manage registered sex offender compliance efforts throughout the country.

Vigilant Solutions is the leading license plate recognition (LPR) technology provider in North America, and maintains the largest database of commercially-generated LPR data of over 3.5 billion detections, according to the company. Watch Systems provides the nation's leading offender management and community notification solution managing over 60% of the nation's registered sex offenders and sending over 10 million notifications every year, the company says.

Working closely with the Sacramento County (Calif.) Sheriff's Department, which manages roughly 3,500 registered sex offenders, Vigilant Solutions integrated data from Watch Systems to deliver an automated hot-list capability that provides alerts on registered sex offenders' vehicles as they are seen by both law enforcement- and commercially-operated LPR systems. These alerts provide compliance officers insights into potential issues and discrepancies that may indicate non-compliance by the registered sex offender.

These alerts sometimes prompt subsequent investigations using Vigilant's LEARN product, which leverages Vigilant's national network of LPR data. Leveraging tools like Locate Analysis, a compliance officer can help validate or bring into question a registered sex offender's reported address(es). If an offender reports living at one address, but his/her vehicle is repeatedly seen over the course of a period of time in another city or state, this could indicate non-compliance and certainly provides the compliance officer with additional useful information. If a registered sex offender fails to report or is otherwise designated as an absconder, these same tools may be used to help locate and arrest these individuals.

Lou Luzynski, co-founder and managing partner of Watch Systems, states, "When offenders realize they can't beat the system it engenders a notion that there is no use trying. And when offenders know they are being monitored, they find it much less tempting to repeat something they know they shouldn't do. Even more importantly, an offender that has gone stealth is often only a few steps away from another event; an event that every community wants to prevent."

Shawn Smith, president and co-founder of Vigilant Solutions, adds, "The relationship with Watch Systems is one that typifies why we are here. "Protecting officers, families and communities" is our Company's passion statement, and these are more than just words to us. Every member of the Vigilant community makes a difference in the lives of so many – our employees, our partners, and most importantly our customers. We are happy to enter into this relationship with Watch Systems as they also share in this belief."

Based in Covington, Louisiana, Watch Systems provides an offender management and community notification solution managing over 60% of the nation's registered sex offenders and sending over 10 million notifications every year. www.watchsystems.com

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